Fratello’s Fantasy Pick

John Henson of the Milwaukee Bucks heads into his second professional season after an up-and-down rookie year on an up-and-down team.

The talented, 6’11” former Tarheel was taken 14th overall in the 2012 NBA Draft after a superb three years in Chapel Hill. In both his sophomore and junior seasons at North Carolina Henson was named ACC Defensive Player of the Year. In addition, he was named to the 2011-2012 First Team All-ACC.

With an amazing wingspan of 7’6” Henson is able to alter and block numerous shots from anywhere on the court. He possesses soft hands around the rim and gobbles up rebounds.

When Henson made his pro debut, the Bucks had a logjam of talented big men at frontcourt including then-sophomore Larry Sanders. This proved to be a blessing and a curse for Henson’s development. Though he got to bang with and compete with veterans Mike Dunleavy, Joel Przybilla and Samuel Dalembert in practice, the plethora of bigs limited his rookie minutes.

Henson played in 63 games in the 2012-13 season and averaged 6 ppg, 4.7 rpg and 0.7 bpg in 13.1 mpg. The former McDonald’s All-American put up season-highs of 28 points, 25 boards (!!!), 7 blocks and 3 steals (2X).

Henson’s upside is huge, and his production will surely trend upward this season. So far after three games, Henson has averaged 22.3 mpg and 10.7 ppg. Look for both of these numbers to increase quickly and for this young, athletic big man to have nights where his stat lines boast double-digits.